


Skating Lessons

by fallinrain



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 17:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallinrain/pseuds/fallinrain
Summary: When Killian was seven and Emma was five, he taught her how to ice skate. Now he's teaching their daughter and it's making Emma think back to the first time she met her husband.





	Skating Lessons

It looked like a scene taken right out of the pages of a fairy tale. The ground is covered with snow and the trees behind the ice skating rink are full of lights. There's hot chocolate being sold at one stand and hot cider at another. A couple of food trucks serving a number of delicious treats are nearby. All around are couples and families with children of all ages. From the babies bundled up in snowsuits all the way up to the teenagers who are too cool to hang out with their parents with kids of nearly every age in between. The ice skating rink is full of skaters, from the wannabe hockey players and figure skaters to the people barely able to stay upright. There's music playing and people laughing and it's as if they're all trapped in some kind of winter wonderland.

 

A pretty little girl of five was standing a few feet away from the ice skating rink, her long blonde curls spilling down her back. Her cheeks are pink from the cold making her look like more of an angel than usual. Her sparkling blue eyes are looking at the rink with a mixture of awe, curiosity and a hint of suspicion. One of her mitten covered hands is holding on to her mother's. The other is absently playing with the ends of her scarf. A smile appears on her face as she spots a handsome man with dark hair and eyes the same shade of blue as her own out on the ice. Everyone always tells her that she is the spitting image of her mother, save for those blue eyes.

 

"Alright there, lass?" Her father grinned as he skates over to the edge of the rink. "Are you ready to give it a go?" The child bit her lip, looking a bit anxious now. She so wants to venture out onto the ice like all the other kids, but she hasn't quite worked up the nerve just yet. Opting to watch safely from the sidelines with her mother instead. She's making progress, though. The first time they came to the rink, she didn't even want to put on ice skates, let alone go out onto the ice. This time she was determined. She looked down at the skates she's wearing before looking back up at her father.

 

"I don't want to fall," she said in response. Her father's smile softened as he stepped off the ice and closed the gap between them, leaning down to bring himself closer to her level.

 

"My darling Hope, do you really think that I would ever let you fall?" he asked, his voice warm. 

 

"Well..." Hope drew out the word, unable to keep the smile from spreading across her face. "I guess not." 

 

"She guesses not," her father said, letting out a dramatic sigh as he looked up at her mother, his wife, with a twinkle in his eye. "She wounds me so. I'm afraid my feelings have been hurt. I might never recover from this." He pressed a hand to his heart, making his wife roll her eyes as she smirked.

 

"Daddy's being silly, isn't he, baby?" The woman squeezed her daughter's hand in reassurance. "But he's right. Daddy would never let you fall."

 

"Not ever?" Hope asked.

 

"Never ever," her father confirmed. "Do you know what, little love? I taught Mommy how to ice skate when she was just about your age."

 

"You did?" Hope asked, looking back and forth between her parents.

 

"He did," her mother confirmed, smiling at her husband. "He was a very good teacher."

 

"Aye, that I was," her father agreed. "I taught her and I can teach you too. All you have to do is trust me," he said, holding his hand out to his daughter. "Okay?"

 

"Okay," Hope agreed, dropping her mother's hand and grabbing his.

 

"Okay." Killian Jones shot his wife a grin before leading their daughter over to the ice skating rink, nothing the way her small hand tightened on his and giving her a small squeeze in return.

 

His wife, Hope's mother, Emma watched the two of them step onto the ice with a smile on her face and found herself thinking back to the first time Killian led her out onto a different ice skating rink. 

 

Killian Jones was seven years old when he first spotted the blonde little girl who would one day become his wife. It was on a day very much like this one. He'd gone to the ice skating rink with his older brother Liam, who had predictably left him to his own devices while he skated with his friends. That was their arrangment. Liam would agree to taking Killian along to the ice skating rink whenever he went, but Killian was to pretend that they didn't know each other. 

 

Of course, having said arrangement didn't guarantee that Killian would always abide by it. He was the younger brother, after all, and in his opinion part of his duty as the younger brother was to annoy Liam as much as possible. His main duty, even. Whenever Liam got mad at him, Killian would just say that he was just doing his job.

 

On this fateful day, however, Killian was more than content just going about his own business. Even pesky little brothers have to take a day off every now and again. So he was out on the ice skating all by himself when he noticed the little blonde girl standing by one of the entrances, all alone...

 

* * *

 

Five-year-old Emma Swan had been so excited when her foster mother announced that she was taking all the kids to the ice rink for the afternoon. As far as foster parents went, the couple Emma was currently staying with would turn out to be some of the best. The house was kept clean and there was always plenty of food to be had. And this couple, while not what anyone would ever call affectionate, were nice enough. Emma had never had a foster parent take her ice skating before.

 

Okay, so her foster mother had just dropped them all off with the promise of returning to get them in a couple of hours, but even still. Emma suspected that she just wanted the house to herself for a little while and she couldn't blame her. The important thing was that Emma was going to get to ice skate for the first time in her life. Her foster mother had even given them money for the skate rentals with a little extra for a snack. That was more than enough, as far as Emma was concerned. The oldest of the foster children was tasked with getting skates for everyone.

 

Unfortunately, any hopes of having any of the other foster children teach Emma how to skate were dashed when they all hurried out to the rink while she was still focused on tying her skates. It wasn't that she didn't know how to tie them; it just took her longer than the others. A couple of the other kids snickered at her slowness, but who cared about them anyway?

 

Or so that was what Emma told herself. The truth was that she did care. All around her were people having fun and there she was being laughed at because it took her longer to tie her skates. It hurt more than she was willing to admit. She tried to shake it off though. The important thing was that she was at an ice skating rink for the first time in her life. Her skates were tied and she was ready to skate.

 

Mostly ready.

 

Kind of ready.

 

Not even close to ready.

 

Emma chewed on her lip as she watched all the skaters out on the rink. All of a sudden the thought of venturing out there all by herself was overwhelming. Just walking to the rink had been an experience. She'd made it to one of the entrances, though she'd wobbled quite a bit in the process. Now she couldn't imagine how she'd manage the ice.

 

"Alright there, lass?" 

 

The question made her jump. She'd somehow missed the boy who had just skated over to her. Now she looked over at a boy who looked to be a little older than her with messy dark hair that seemed to go a bit in every direction. He spoke with an accent that Emma hadn't heard much of and she was startled to realize that he had some of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.

 

"I'm alright," she answered, somewhat defensively.

 

"If that was true," the boy said conversationally, leaning up against the rail. "You'd be out here. But you're over there." He grinned when she didn't respond. "You don't talk too much, do you? That's alright. My brother Liam says I talk too much. He's the doofus over there," the boy said, gesturing towards an older boy who was laughing with his friends. "So what's your story then? Aren't you going to skate?" His smile disappeared when she remained silent. "Oh I get it. You don't know how, do you?"

 

"No," she admitted, quietly. 

 

"Well then," he said with a nod. "You should learn. I'll show you how."

 

"Why?" she asked, somewhat suspicious of this strange boy before her. 

 

"Why not?" he retorted with a shrug. Later, he would tell her that the truth was that he'd been drawn to the lonely little girl she'd been back then. He'd been a bit of loner himself in those days and recognized the sad look in her eyes all too well.

 

"I don't want to fall," she told him, looking embarrassed.

 

"I won't let you fall," he said, seriously now. "All you have to do is trust me." He moved closer to the entrance and extended a hand to her. "Okay?"

 

Emma just stared at his offered hand for a few moments, her small brow furrowed in thought. Finally, she peeked up at his face, struck by the kindness she saw there. "Okay," she said, giving him a shy smile as she carefully put her hand in his.

 

"Okay." The grin was back on his face. "I'm Killian, by the way. Killian Jones. And you might you be?"

 

"I'm Emma," she told him. "Emma Swan."

 

* * *

 

"Mommy, Mommy!"

 

Emma blinked as the sound of her daughter calling out to her shook her out of her reverie. She looked up to see her daughter and husband skating towards her. "I'm doing it," Hope squealed in delight. She was still holding onto Killian's hand, but it looked like she was getting the hang of it.

 

"Good job, baby!" Emma cheered. "I knew you could do it"

 

"Come join us, Mommy!", Hope exclaimed, flinging out her free hand towards her.

 

"Yeah, come join us Mommy," Killian echoed, grinning. Emma couldn't help returning his grin with one of her own. 

 

"I'm coming," she said, heading out to join then and taking Hope's hands in hers. 

 

"Daddy didn't let me fall," Hope told her as the family started skating as a unit.

 

"I told you," Emma reminded her. "Daddy never lets his girls fall."

 

And it was true. It had taken a while for Emma to get the hang of ice skating, but Killian had always managed to catch her before she fell all the way down. She never hit the ice. She had, however, laughed like a lunatic when they'd gone to take a break and Killian somehow had forgotten the little ledge separating the ice from the floor and gone flying backwards. Emma had already let go of his hand at that point and had watched him go down in a heap of flailing limbs. When he landed, there was a look of pure and utter shock on his face. 

 

"Aye, well," he'd squeaked, clearly trying to appear as dignified as possible even as his ears turned bright red. "That was me showing you how not to exit the ice skating rink." The giggle had escaped before Emma could stop it. Turning into a full blown giggle fit when he'd narrowed his eyes in response. It hadn't been long before he'd been unable to resist joining in. The two of them had laughed for what felt like forever and Emma was pretty positive that that was the hardest she had ever laughed in her life up until that point. 

 

It would be the first of countless laughs they would share over the years. The first skate of many. The beginning of what would turn into a wonderful friendship that would last even as Emma was  moved from one foster home to another. A friendship that would eventually bloom into love. A love that would result in a marriage and the beautiful little girl who now skated between them. 


End file.
